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German Appeal court outlaws links to websites offering circumvention technology

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10-08-2005 9:11pm

#1

damien

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Join Date: July 2004

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Appeal court outlaws links to websites offering circumvention technology

A Munich court of appeal upheld a lower court ruling, demanding that German IT news service Heise Online remove a link to Slysoft.com, an Antigua based company selling software enabling users to make copies of copy-protected CDs and DVDs. Legal experts criticised the decision as endangering press freedom. Six major labels in January served a writ to Heise, preventing it from publishing links to Slysoft. In April, a lower court in Munich held that Heise was allowed to report on Slysoft’s software but not to link to the company’s web page, even though the link was referring to the homepage only, not the download page. By providing a link to the company's homepage, the court said, Heise intentionally provided 'assistance in the fulfilment of unlawful acts' and is therefore liable as 'an aider and abettor'. The case is based on article 95a of the German authors rights code which outlaws the manufacture, import, sale, renting, and promotion with regard to sale or renting of applications to circumvent copy protection measures. Also prohibited is the possession of these applications when they are used for commercial purposes, and to perform services in order to circumvent or promote circumvention.

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